Assumptions
by Laura x Tennant
Summary: Other People assume they're a couple. They're not. The Doctor and Rose both believe they'll never be like that. But that's just them assuming it's too complicated; they should stay 'just friends.' They're wrong. Maybe Other People had it right all along.
1. Photos Are There For Remembering

**A/N: This is a short story – just a couple of chapters. Full of lovely, probably plot-less, fluff. Just how I like it. Set during series two, probably around Idiot's Lantern time-wise. Thanks to MentalMeander for a lovely word prompt: 'slush'.... ;P Yeah. I know. Odd. But bear with it :D I was intending this to be a short oneshot, but then ideas came flooding through to me and I just ****had**** to adjust it and make it longer. So, although it's just occurred to me that the word prompt isn't actually in the first chapter, it makes a definite appearance in chapter 2, which will therefore be up very soon. I hope you like it!**

**Enjoy, mon amies,**

**Laura x**

**............................................................................................................................................**

**Assumptions**

**Chapter 1 - Photos**

Rose is sitting in her room on the TARDIS looking through a few photo albums. It's funny, looking back; the first couple that she flicks through are filled with nothing in particular, just herself as a child and Jackie with a perm, or her and Mickey grinning at the camera, or her and her friends as teenagers, bunking off school and messing around in the park. There are a few photos of her and Jimmy Stone, from when he was doing that gig – the one that he swore would make him a famous rock star by the end of the week. It didn't. There are a couple of pictures of places in London that she'd visited, but nowhere else, really. She hadn't been able to afford to go travelling.

Back then. She smiles.

_How life has changed,_ she thinks.

The next album she looks at makes her heart stop for a moment. She becomes lost in the pictures – nostalgia and a strange sense of wistfulness flooding through her.

There he is.

The Doctor.

Her Doctor. But slightly different to how her Doctor looks now...the _Old _Doctor. Big ears and big grin and all.

And there's Jack.

Good old Captain Jack.

She misses him. She misses them both, really.

She remembers how surprised she was when the Doctor actually _let _her take a photo of him. She thought she'd have to do it sneakily, but oh no, he let her. It was such a fun day, that day. It was just after World War Two, but before Blon Fel Fotch in Cardiff, and the three of them were having so much fun. A planet called Zoomba - a fascinating place were the inhabitants only wore purple and the four suns were worshipped devoutly. The Doctor was showing them the Fountain of Ulo, when Rose splashed him as a distraction and brought out her camera to take her sneaky shot. He saw her, though, and he knew what was coming. And as the camera flashed he gave her a cheesy grin. And for that day, all the weight of the universe seemed to fall from his shoulders and he smiled through the whole adventure.

She took lots of pictures that day. And the day after that. And lots more days after that.

As she flips the pages of the album over, she smiles to herself. There are so many of the three of them together, lots of her and Jack, and some of just her and the Doctor. Him, smiling his wide, happy, smile, and her, matching his grin with her own. Him, with his arm wrapped tightly around her shoulders, her, with her arm around his waist. More and more of the same sorts of pictures...different adventures, different places in time and space, but with one constant: happy, smiling friends. Best friends.

She turns the next page and laughs out loud. Now _that _had been a funny occasion. The Doctor had been 'fixing' something under the TARDIS console, and Rose had wandered in with her camera, awaiting the next adventure. Calling out to him, she made him jump, and he wacked his head in surprise. He came out spluttering and moaning about his poor head and how a 'stupid ape' making him jump is really quite rude, and he had such a wounded, indignant look on his face that she couldn't resist. He looked like a little lost puppy. The camera went 'click.'

"That was really mean of you, you know," murmurs the Doctor, her _present _Doctor.

Now it's Rose's turn to jump in surprise. "What the...? " she shrieks, and the photo albums spill out of her lap and onto the floor by her bed.

"Oh, whoops, sorry. Didn't mean to startle you," apologises the Doctor, but from the grin on his face she can tell it's not that sincere. When he crouches down and picks her photos up for her, she finds she doesn't mind. _Hmmm, is he bending over? Well. It's quite a nice view really, the Doctor bending over like that and_..._woah there! Did I just think that? Why did I just think that? _she thinks.

She clears her throat purposefully.

"I didn't realise you were in here. Creeping into my room without knocking, Doctor; that's quite rude. Standing right behind me like that, without me even noticing. You do that a lot?" she asks cheekily, her tongue poking out between her teeth.

He stands up and gives her_ that _look as he hands over her albums. The look that simultaneously makes her want to hit him and kiss him. His eyes narrow at her sceptically. His left eyebrow is raised. His lips are quirking up in amusement. And he is wearing his sexy glasses.

Rose holds his gaze for a moment, challenging him to answer her by giving _him _a look that says 'Ha. Gotcha.' And he stares back.

"Yes," he answers, surprising her once more.

"Oh yeah?" she asks, moving to sit in a cross-legged position to create space for the Doctor to join her.

"Yep," he replies, flopping down next to her on the bed. He flashes her a dazzling grin. "You do say some interesting things to yourself when you think no one's listening..."

"What? No I don't!" she says, panicking silently that the Doctor may have heard something he shouldn't have. Like her telling herself to _get a grip, it's never going to happen, so stop fantasising about it._

'It' meaning him. And her. You know. _Oh god..._

"Yes. You really do. First sign of madness, that – talking to yourself," he continues. _And she's mad if she thinks I don't want all that too. But it just...it just can't happen. I can't let it. I can't let myself lo -_

"You can talk!" she retorts.

"Be careful though; the second sign of madness is when you start telling yourself off for talking to yourself. _That's _when you have to start worrying. Although, it's funny, really, because the - " he rambles.

"Doctor?" she interrupts.

"Hmmm?" He has forgotten what he was saying anyway. He'd been rambling without really knowing what he was saying, too busy being caught up in an internal debate about Rose and him, him and Rose, should they, could they, will they, won't they...for the last five minutes. Well, all the time actually. _The things I must go on and on about without knowing, too lost in my own little world to really think. That's going to get me into trouble one day. Especially if I accidently say something that I'm thinking. Rassilon. That could be a bit - no, wait, a lot - of a disaster. _

"Shut up," she replies. She loves it when he rambles, loves hearing his voice, his words not particularly registering in her mind. But right now, she was having trouble focusing on not kissing him, and if he kept talking in that way where he makes silly remarks that make her laugh and when he brings out that look - so confused about something so brilliantly human -she wants to kiss him, rather a lot, and she doesn't think she can hold back if he talks anymore, because he's already wearing the sexy glasses and _oh god. I like it when he looks like this too. All astonished and insulted at something cheeky I've said to him. It's really quite cute. And now I __**still**__ want to kiss him. Oh __**god...**_

"Oh. Well, that's a bit rude, Rose Tyler," he admonishes, pretending to be insulted and she looks down at him with an amused expression on her face.

"So is coming into my bedroom uninvited and staring over my shoulder at my photos." _Not that I mind. I know he comes in here when I'm asleep sometimes. He sits in that chair and just watches. Sometimes I hear him, and wake up for a bit. And I know I should feel like he's invading my privacy and being completely inappropriate, but he's __**the Doctor**__, and I'd forgive him anything. He must get so bored, not sleeping, just waiting for her to wake up. Plus, it's really quite comforting, knowing that he's there, and I'm safe. _

"My TARDIS," he says simply, resisting the urge to also say 'My Rose.' Because that would be weird. Obviously. But really, why shouldn't he be allowed to come into her room? She was his best friend, his companion, his tea-drinking buddy. He was bored, and a bit lonely, and he wanted to see if she fancied a cuppa before she went to bed. It wasn't his fault that he forgot about the human female desire for privacy, and barged right in without saying anything. She was an alien, after all. Well, from his perspective. And he couldn't see anything wrong in watching her look at her photos; most of them had him in them, anyway.

"Right," she says, shifting down to lie on her back, holding the final album. Before she can open it, the Doctor snatches out of her hand and begins to flick through, chuckling softly. "Oi, let me see..." she says, trying to grab it back off of him, but he just extends his arm out. She leans across him, reaching out for it, but he tickles her waist and she wriggles helplessly.

"My turn. Wow, this is a nice one of you. You look lovely," he compliments softly, without really realising that he said it out loud, before chuckling at the next few photos. He's amused that she's so ticklish – his left hand is still at her waist, tickling her diligently - but also by some photos in the album. Christmas. Just after he regenerated. He stops tickling her and brings the album down to look at it closely.

Rose considers making a grab for it, but then she notices his expression as he turns the page, and she leans closer into him instead. Just so that she can see what he's looking at so intently. Obviously. No other reason. Not at all.

However, she's delighted when he wraps his arm around her waist, unconsciously pulling her closer.

"Very domestic," Rose murmurs softly, as she looks at the picture of all the people she cares about sitting around the table, pulling crackers and laughing and smiling, their plates with bits of leftover Christmas dinner still in front of them. She doesn't just mean the picture, though. The two of them, snuggling like this on her bed. That's...that's a bit domestic...

He knows that too.

"Mmm," he says back, a troubled look flitting across his face.

"What's wrong?" asks Rose. "You can't be getting a complex about it all now, surely? You were having fun at the time."

"What? Oh, no, it's not that. I mean, yeah, it was brilliant. That day...it was brilliant."

"Then what is it?"

"Look at you," he declares, pointing at the photo.

"What about me?"

"You're different," he tells her, in a tone that suggests it's obvious.

"What do you mean? It's just my hair that's changed a bit, nothing else," she replies, feeling a little self-conscious.

He flicks through a few more pages.

"Look, there it is again. On Barcelona. I thought you...but you hadn't. I just assumed..." he says, a little sadly.

"I hadn't what? Doctor?"

"And here, on Rihti. And here, Sweden 1978. And here, Sydney Opera House, New Year's Eve 2000. And then back to Jackie's, for her New Year's Eve. I thought that it was over _then_, for sure..." he declares, pointing at various photos.

"What? What are you going on about?"

"Your doubt. I thought...It took longer than I thought, didn't it? Your acceptance."

"Of what?"

"Of _me."_

"Not really," she says, shrugging. She grew accustomed to his new face surprisingly quickly, from her point of view. So much so that she felt somewhat guilty, as if she hadn't mourned the loss of her old Doctor for long enough before falling for her current Doctor. Except both are still him, the same mad old alien that she loves, so she couldn't feel that way for long. Not really. Not when he still did so many things that were so...Doctor-ish. And him being so...foxy this time around.

"But look – look at these photos of us; the other ones, the ones you were looking at earlier, with the me you first met...you looked at me...differently. These ones, it's like...it's like you don't know me. But you trusted me, didn't you? Even when I changed. After the Sycorax. I'm sure you trusted me."

"Of course I trusted you. I mean, yeah, it a bit weird, you changing your face and everything," she says, smiling at him cheekily. "You _so_ should've told me you could do that _beforehand_, by the way."

He smiles at her sheepishly. "I know. I'm sorry." And he genuinely is.

"That's ok. But as for these photos...I suppose I was still a bit confused. You're so different now – the same in many ways, but so different in others. So it was confusing, seeing the man I thought I knew change so much. But I knew I still..." she pauses, before she can spoil the moment and say something stupid. Like 'I love you.'

"What?" he asks when her sentence trails off. He thinks he knows what she was going to say. He knows he shouldn't...because they are just friends, and that's all they ever could be...but he _hopes_ that what he thinks he knows is right. But maybe he's already made too many assumptions when it comes to Rose and her feelings to truly knowfor sure.

"I got used to it quite quickly really, if you think about it, especially after our trip to Oss," she tells him, ignoring the unsaid end of her unfinished sentence. "Oss was...magical." She sighs happily, and turns her head to gaze at him again.

"Magical? Yeah. Yeah, it was." He forgets about the photos and just looks at her for a few moments, his hand unconsciously (he really doesn't realise) drawing patterns on her hip where he is holding her against him, taking in her big, chocolate eyes imploring his, her beautiful smile and the way she's adorably biting her lip. He thinks about how beautiful she is (but he really doesn't realise he is thinking it, so it's allowed.)

_I want to kiss her_. _What? __**No.**__ No, I don't. We're just friends. We've always been friends, nothing more. She looks so beautiful. No. No, no, no, no, no. No kissing. Friends. Friends don't do that. Weeelll, I haven't done that with any of my other friends. But Rose. Weeelll, she's different. Rassilon. Why is it so hard to resist her, when it's always been so easy to not get too attached to anyone else? Oh. Yeah. __**Rose.**__ Rose is different. Rose is better. No, that's unfair. Except it's not, because she is. __**Rassilon**__, it's like I'm infatuated. I'm not. Definitely not. She just...helped me. Meeting her, it saved me. She saved me. After all that had happened, she made me better. And she never left me. Even after all the things I've done. And she never wants to leave me. But that doesn't mean anything. It could've been anyone in that shop basement that day. Except it couldn't. It could've been anyone who I asked to come with me. Twice. Except it couldn't have been, I know that. But surely anyone could have weaved their way into my life like that when I was so broken? Except they couldn't have. No. Just her. Only her. Only ever her._

_Blimey, what's happening to me?_

He loses track of his thoughts when he's around Rose.

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	2. Slush, Not Snow, But Definitely Not Ash

**A/N: Hiya! Right, so this is where the prompt 'slush' comes into play. And oh dear, I just realised, that could sound a bit dodgy. So all of you who think that's a euphemism or something, you're very wrong, please remove your mind from the gutter. In this case, 'slush' is slush, as in, the stuff that snow turns into when the rain has ruined its lovely white-ness. Right. Just thought I'd clear that up, if anyone was confused as to what slush actually is. Anyway. I'm going to put down the shovel and stop digging that impossibly large hole and shut up and let you read the chapter. I hope you like it. Please r&r, you know you want too ;P**

**Love Laura x**

**Chapter 2 – Slush, Not Snow, But Definitely Not Ash**

He remembers that day on Oss. New Year's Day. Jackie had told them not to go anywhere until she got back from the shops. But...well, she'd also told them not to go anywhere on every day since Christmas, insisting that seeing as the Doctor had been 'a bit ill,' it would be a nice excuse for him and Rose to spend a 'holiday' with her. But they had ignored her then, too, sneakily flying to various places in time and space when she was out, or asleep. Hence the photos of Barcelona etc. Jackie still thought they had been there the entire time. As if. And really, it wasn't the Doctor who suggested all those trips. It was _Rose_ getting restless, and it was _Rose _begging him to take her somewhere else. He loved her for that.

_Woah. What?_ _What?_ _**What?**_

_Liked. I __**liked **__her for that. Yes. Yes, that's it. __**Liked.**__ Or, __**appreciated.**__ Hmmm. That's a good one. I __**appreciated**__ Rose for asking to go somewhere else. That's good. That's safe._

Anyway, after what happened with the 'not-so-beautiful' not-snow after the Sycorax on Christmas Day, the Doctor thought he ought to show Rose a planet with proper snow - beautifulsnow.

The planet Oss was situated in the constellation of Aria, and it was the most beautiful place in the galaxy. Snow-covered mountains as tall as the sky and frozen lakes as wide as a whole country on Earth were scattered about the surface; a million stars shining down amidst three shining silver moons. And the Doctor had thought: _what better place to take __**her. **__She'll look gorgeous in the moonlight. _Of course, he had quickly shaken _that _thought from his mind, and focused on the fact that he was just taking her to see the snow. Not because of the way he imagined her eyes would shine and her hair would glisten and her lips would part in amazement at the sight so that he could take the opportunity to kiss her and...and oh dear. His thoughts had gotten away from him again. Just like they were doing now; playing the scenes over inside his head as he watched her look at him quizzically from next to him on the bed.

So he had set the course for Oss.

But the Doctor being the Doctor, as incapable of flying the TARDIS correctly as he is...he got it a bit wrong. He got the right planet, just the wrong time of the year. Well, he had thought that the planet looked the same all year round, actually. But it didn't.

**....FLASHBACK....**

"Doctor?" she calls, wandering through the TARDIS corridors looking for her favourite alien.

"In here – ow! Ow! Ow, ow, ow! Ah. Bugger. It's all gonna fall - "

She runs into the wardrobe room hurriedly, following the sound of his cries. "Are you alri - " she begins, before bursting out into hysterical laughter.

"Mits nomf fummfhy," comes his muffled response to her giggles.

He's buried under a pile of clothes and heavy coats and hats and scarves _– woah, that's a really long scarf, _she thinks as she lifts a multi-coloured one of his head. She helps him find the surface, chucking the offending items over her shoulder haphazardly.

"Sorry, Doctor? Couldn't quite hear what you said right then..."

"I _said, _it's not funny. I could've got seriously hurt just then. In fact, I did."

"What, your pride get fatally wounded, did it?" she teases, holding out her hand. He grabs it and hauls himself up to standing position.

He sniffs indignantly, pointing at the shelves and clothing rail. "As a matter of fact, I hit my head on that, which fell like a domino onto _that, _which knocked that hook, dislodging the shelves. And then I fell right on my backside when that lot came tumbling into my face. So yes. My pride is terribly wounded, as well as my bum."

Rose can't help it. She breaks into hysterical laughter again. _Bless him, _she thinks.

He turns on his heel and stalks away from her, giving her a rather nice view of his retreating form. _What a shame._ _Such a nice bottom, too...woah. No. No use thinking like __**that.**__He's the Doctor. It's not an ordinary guy. He can change his face for God's sake! _She sits down amidst all the clothes on the floor and contemplates this.

_Oh. Exactly. He's changed. He's still him but he's changed. How do I even feel about him now? I still trust him. He saved all our lives again. And we've had some fantastic trips since Christmas. And he's certainly very attractive. I almost kissed him last night, at midnight. In fact I did. Very quickly, and just a peck on the cheek. I should've used the New Year's Eve opportunity to give him a proper snog. I was a bit tipsy, after all. So yeah. He's lovely. _

_And a little bit foxy._

_But can I still love him, when he's the same but yet so different?_

He walks back into the wardrobe room and stands in front of her, impatiently diffusing his annoyance of her laughing at him because it just dawned on him that he actually _missed _her just then, when he'd turned away from her, wandering to the console room on his own, without her chattering away at him. It was quite a strange, and scary, thing for him to realise, really. He'd been away from her for barely three minutes, and he couldn't take it. He'd turned around and walked right back to her. He assumes it's because he doesn't want her to feel bad.

He knows it isn't. It's just that he sort of lov- _likes _her. He likes her a lot. Yes, that's it.

And as he grins down at her, and she looks into his eyes, and he pulls her up and starts rambling on about some planet that they are visiting next that's called Oss and oh _that's_ the reason why he was in the wardrobe in the first place, apparently, because he was trying to find some stuff to wrap her up in, because apparently the planet Oss is very, very, _extremely _cold and she would possibly freeze to death or something if she just wore her normal coat and yet they had to go because it's just _beautiful _and there's real snow, Rose, real snow...and that's around the time she stops listening because she answers her earlier question to herself: _yeah. I think I can._

She smiles at him widely as he dresses her up in about five layers of coasts and jackets, winding a couple of scarves around her neck and handing her three pairs of gloves. She gives him a disbelieving, 'no way!' look when he puts a hat on her head, but he just points a finger at her and says she has too, 'it's very, very, _extremely_ cold out there, Rose Tyler.' So, she shrugs and says 'okay,' because he's the Doctor and she listens to him even when she doesn't.

She likes the sound of his voice.

They step out of the TARDIS doors and from the picture that the Doctor's built up in her head about this place she expects to see rolls and rolls of whiter than white hills and massive, glistening lakes. She doesn't. But she just laughs.

Offering a wide smile at him, she turns to the mad old alien, who's standing next to her with a quizzical look on his young-looking face. "So, wrong time or wrong place?" she asks.

He sniffs the air. "Right place. But it must be - "

And before he can utter another word, she's running ahead of him, bouncing with enthusiasm. He's astounded at her. Yeah, it's mostly like he said. Well, sort of. There is snow. But it's more of a grey-ish colour. It's ruining his converses, he notices, but that's hardly his main concern. He wanted to show Rose the planet Oss at its finest – untouched and beautiful. Instead...well, it had obviously rained or something equally annoying. Because the snow has been replaced by an icky slushy slush that was no sight to look at and certainly no fun to throw snowballs with. As the Doctor finds out when Rose attempts one and hits him in the neck with a nice grey _splodge. _He turns to face her and there she is. Laughing manically at him.

"At least it's not ash though, right?" she giggles.

And with that sentence he knows he's found someone completely remarkable in Rose Tyler. Talk about looking on the bright side...

"Suppose..." he mutters back, wiping the slush from his neck and collar. "But at least that ash _looked _like snow. This is just...yuck."

"Oh, don't be such a _girl!" _she exclaims, throwing another slush-ball at him.

"Oi!" he shouts, narrowly avoiding the flying slush. He bends down to gather some up himself. "I'm not a _girl!_" he insists, throwing it at her.

She dodges it effortlessly. "Well, you throw like one..." she teases, smirking lightly.

"That's rude," he declares, pointing at her accusingly.

"Yep. And totally not ginger," she retorts, walking towards him. He smiles, and she beams at him. "Slush angels?" she grins.

"Definitely not." At this, she mock-scowls at him. "No. No, Rose. It'll ruin my coat! Janis Joplin gave me this coat. I love this coat. I once - "

"Yeah, yeah, ok..." she interrupts, and pushes him down to the floor with her. "Well," she says, turning towards his bewildered expression as he lies next to her on the ground, "Now that you're here..."

He rolls his eyes. "Slush angels it is then."

_Honestly. The things I do for Rose Tyler_, he thinks.

.....................

After a couple of hours, and a very unsuccessful attempt at tobogganing down one of the mountains together, Rose and the Doctor had wandered over to one of the lakes.

"Thought you said this place was untouched and uninhabited?" she asks, as they get closer. She can quite clearly see that there are people ice-skating on the frozen lake.

He gives her a look. One that she can tell sort of says 'What do I know? Bloody not-snow _slush _is here as well.' She's seen that look a lot today, when she's asked him about something else he'd gotten wrong about the planet.

"Right. Won't go there, eh?" she grins, and he nods.

They meet the people – Melots, they are called – and as a lightbulb goes off inside his head, the Doctor conveniently remembers the story of how the Melots came to live there.

"Travelled across the stars in search of somewhere they can live without having to shave off all their delightful purple fur," he tells her. "Somewhere cold enough for them to be happy."

She smiles at him, and they walk hand-in-hand to a beautiful waterfall. Frozen, obviously. The moonlight reflects off of it magnificently and the Doctor suggests that Rose takes a photo of it. Actually, his hidden intention is that this way, he can get her to pose in front of it, and he can take a photo of her, capturing the way she looks right now – completely scruffy, cold, and dirty but so incredibly gorgeous. He doesn't tell her that, of course. He barely lets himself think it.

But then a Melot walks past with their family, and on seeing the two lovely humans that have graced Oss with their joyful presence that day, they offer to take a picture of the 'couple.' Rose nods enthusiastically, and hands over her camera with a quick 'thanks.'

The Doctor and Rose stand in front of the waterfall, and he wraps his arm around her tightly, then, on noticing her shivering, unbuttons his coat and motions for her to cuddle into him, pulling the coat around her too. She smiles gratefully. "Aren't _you _cold?" she asks softly.

"Nah, not really. Time Lord," he says by way of explanation and grins at her.

She slides her arms around his waist and looks up at him with a strange look in her eyes.

The Melot says to them, "Are you two lovebirds ready yet or shall I give you a moment to stare into each other's eyes a bit longer?"

"Yeah, a moment would be nice," smiles the Doctor, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively and Rose blushes, averting her eyes from his and looking over to the Melot holding her camera.

"Ready," she affirms with a nod. _That was embarrassing, _she thinks. _Lovebirds? Where'd they get that idea?_

"Smile," singsongs the Melot.

And then Rose feels the Doctor's breath on her ear as he leans down and murmurs quietly, "You look beautiful, you know. Especially when you blushed just then..."

And what he says, and _how_ he says it...she believes him. She really does. Because he really means it. And that's really very brilliant.

She turns to face him instantly, smiling wonderfully at the unexpected compliment, and she's vaguely aware of a click and a flash going off as she looks up at the Doctor, the new Doctor, the old Doctor, the same Doctor, _her _Doctor. She knows he never would have said something like that before. Which means he's different. But he still looks at her the same way; she knows that, despite the fact that chocolate brown eyes have replaced icy blue. And in that moment she realises that although he may never have said anything like that in his last regeneration, maybe, just maybe, it doesn't mean he didn't think it. And maybe, just maybe, the fact that he's happy, content and free enough to say it now makes her love him even more. He's still the Doctor, _her _Doctor. And she knows then, in that split second with that camera clicking and flashing just once, that this is a moment she'll remember forever; the moment when everything clicked and flashed into place. Captured in a photo...her looking at him, realising that she loves him...forever.

He looks deep into her eyes, returning her intense gaze, forgetting about the photo, and tries to convey with his eyes just how much she _means_ to him...

(She would have kissed him then; she wanted to. But she didn't want to risk ruining the moment. The kissing could wait. She was just happy. Happy and completely in love with a 900-hundred-odd year old alien. Perfectly normal, for Rose Tyler.)

**....END OF FLASHBACK....**

_I got it wrong again. Slush instead of snow, indeed. Such a small thing, a minor detail, insignificant really. Don't know why I got so frustrated. Maybe it was because I wanted it to be romantic. Nah! Course not. No romance. No. No way. Don't do that. Anyway, the fact was, I wanted snow, and I got slush, which had been a bit annoying, really. Rose didn't mind, though..._he thinks, as he twirls a strand of her golden hair absently.

**A/N: Hope you enjoyed this chapter. More is on its way. Well. If you want it :D Lol. Let me know, via the void...no, wait, I mean, via the review button just there...but via the void has SUCH a ring to it. I wish it would fit into normal, everyday language, rather than just my Doctor Who-y bubble that I **_**practically **_**live in. In fact, I do. Yeah. Anyway. Love ya, nighty night xxx**


	3. A Picture Really Speaks A Thousand Words

**Chapter 3 – Hmmm. A Picture Really Does Speak A Thousand Words**

_I got it wrong again. Slush instead of snow, indeed! Such a small thing, a minor detail, insignificant really. Don't know why I got so frustrated. Maybe it was because I wanted it to be romantic. Nah! Course not. No romance. No. No way. Don't do that. Never have. Never will. However, she is rather special. No. But maybe with her...no. No. Not going there. Anyway, the fact was, I wanted snow, and I got slush, which had been a bit annoying, really. Rose didn't mind, though..._he thinks, as he twirls a strand of her absently...

_She still thought it was magical. I like it that she called it that. That moment when she looked at me...oh that was definitely magical. I felt so...well, never mind. I almost kissed her. No. No, no I didn't. We don't do that. __**Friends**__. We're just friends. Doctor and companion. Finito. Anyway...Oh, weren't we supposed to be posing for a photo or something? Never did see that one. Oh well. _

_But yeah. Magical. Ha. How very Rose – show her the best of everything and she would smile; show her the worst of something and she would smile even wider, grateful for anything I give her. I suppose that's why she's the best. I suppose that's why I lo – __**like**__her so much. _

_Yeah. That's right._

_Oss had been the turning point,_ he decides. _That was when she started to look at me in that way again. _

_Like she loves me._

He shakes his head internally, trying to make that thought disappear.

_She loves me._

It refuses to vanish, however. He can't help it. The way she had looked at him in that moment after he'd told her she looked beautiful..._woah._ Wait. The way she's looking at him now..._woah. _Spooky. It's kind of the same look. Well, better, actually. More intense. More passionate.

_And sexy. Very, very sexy, _he declares. To himself. Obviously. _Yes. Wow. That look. Sexy as hell._

_And very arousing..._

_No! No. No, no, no._

He clears his throat. He remembers that they had been looking at photos. Maybe he'll find the one of them on Oss. He turns his head, breaking the intense gaze and this stirs Rose out of what she had been fantasising of – _thinking_ of! Thinking of. She follows his example and clears her throat too. Those (yummy) thoughts of the Doctor and ice cream could wait until later, when he's left her room; when she is able to daydream safely without him being here...on her bed...being so incredibly _tempting._

Anyway, he turns the next page of the photo album over, and there it is. Oss. The photo that she had got the Melot to take of the two of them: the frozen waterfall behind them, mud in their hair, their cheeks rosy from the cold wind, the Doctor's coat encompassing them both – just to keep warm, obviously (her five layers really hadn't been enough once it had gotten later and colder) – and the loveliest thing of all, _slush._ Rose's jeans were ruined; her shoes soaked through, much the same to the Doctor's trousers and converses. The slush may have ruined their clothes, but it certainly didn't ruin their day.

He looks at the photo intently. _Yes, this is definitely the day. Oss changed things._

Or maybe he did. With his words. Well, with the truth.

The way she is smiling...not at the camera, but looking up to the Doctor...her lips curled in amusement at the thing which he had said with such passion and sincerity – the thing that crazily sounded like something a lover would say, rather than just a friend...the dimple in her cheek matching the Doctor's...the subtle biting of her lip...it's the best smile he's ever seen. _Ever seen._

As he gazes at it in admiration he suddenly feels a bit confused; it is definitely the first time the Doctor has seen this particular photo. Why hasn't she shown him this before? He's seen lots of the other ones she took that day, but this one she appeared to keep to herself. He can't see why; it's a beautiful picture of her. Of both of them. Together.

"Rose?" he whispers, still looking at the photo.

"Mmm?" she responds lying on her back, watching him suspiciously. _Why is he spending so much time looking at one picture? s_he thinks.

"How come you never showed me this photo before?" he asks, gesturing to the album.

Rose sits up and leans into him to see which one he's looking at.

"Oh," she says, when she finally sees. "Um, I'm not sure. Forgot, I suppose," she lies.

"Oh, right," he accepts.

She bites her lips nervously. "Actually..." she starts to say. She should tell him.

_There is a reason why I didn't show him the photo. It's 'cos I know how obvious it looks. Me. Loving him. It's too obvious, and he would have seen that, he's probably noticing it now. Oh god. How embarrassing and awkward would it have been when he called me on that if he ever saw it...but now he is seeing it, and he isn't. I was sure he would mention it. But he hasn't. He's not. Oh. Maybe it's not so obvious after all. But still, that picture...I'd wanted it to myself, I suppose. Out of fear of embarrassment, but also because it shows me what we look like. What I want us to be. What we can never be. I never want to forget that moment, and I never want to forget what we look like together. And when he's dumped me back on Earth like he's done to all the rest..._

(A part of her does completely believe him when he says he won't send her home. But she has to expect the worst case scenario, just in case.

Except. Well. She knows her heart will break anyway, whether she anticipates it or not.)

..._at least I'll have this photo. To remember. To hope. To dream._

"Doctor, there's someth - " she starts.

"Remember the slush, Rose? Sorry about that. Should've been nice, white, never-been-stepped-in snow. But we still had fun, didn't we?" he rambles, having not heard her mumbling attempt at continuing what she had been about to say.

"That's ok. And yeah. We did. It was fantastic," she replies, smiling softly at the memory.

"Yep!" he comments enthusiastically.

And the moment's gone and she can't tell him. Ever. She won't.

They flick through more and more photos together, laughing heartily at plenty, remembering some fantastic times they've had. There are some of them with Mickey, and Rose instantly feels terribly guilty. Mickey's in the photos, sure, but he doesn't really fit. Anyone could tell that Mickey was the third wheel (or third banana, as the Doctor would say) in the trio just by looking at those pictures. They'd assume...well, they'd assume what people always assume about her and the Doctor. What even _Mickey _assumes about her and the Doctor. And even though they all assume _wrong, _she can't help but feel guilty, because that's what it _looks _like. Which is annoying, because at least if they _were, _then she would have something worthwhile to feel guilty about, rather than simply feeling guilty for something that's implied but never, ever acted on. But then, maybe that's just as bad.

Her thinking about it. Her wanting it. But assuming it can never happen.

They come to some pictures of just them two again, after Mickey left. And yeah...it's still there. That look in their eyes, the way they hold onto each other, laughing happily. Mostly, she takes the photos herself, holding the camera out in front of her as they smile or pull funny faces into the lens. Sometimes, on seeing them, Other People offer to take photos for them, like the Melot did. And that's when it shows even more. There's something about the way an outsider takes a photo of the two of them that shows it in an even brighter light. Maybe they capture a moment, often when neither of them are quite ready, or when the Doctor whispers something into her ear to make her expression change suddenly - maybe a huge smile, maybe an indignant look with a raised eyebrow much like his, or maybe a turn of her head with her tongue poking out at him. And the outsider, the Other Person, as insignificant as they always are, captures the moment perfectly. And there it is. The moment. Captured forever. And no one can deny it. No one can deny what they look like.

_A picture speaks a thousand words, as they say, _Rose thinks.

"Don't you think it's strange..." she begins before she can really think about what she's going to say. She can't finish the sentence that she almost said. She can't _tell _him. That would be...stupid. Just...stupid. But now she has started, he's not going to let it drop.

"What's strange?" he asks, turning his head to look at her properly. He's momentarily surprised at how close their faces are to one another, but he doesn't flinch away. In fact, despite his better judgement, he leans a little closer.

Rose, now very aware that the Doctor's lips are barely three inches away from hers, struggles to focus on forming coherent speech. "Um...guh...er I dunno. Nothing."

"Really?" he asks sceptically, his eyebrows knotting together in confusion. She nods her head. "Then why did you say 'Don't you think it's strange...?'"

"I...well, I meant..."_God, way to go, Rose. Think, think! _she tells her brain.

"Yeah?" he murmurs softly, his breath ghosting over her cheeks. He is so close. She almost kisses him.

_No, _she tells herself, _that would be wrong. Wouldn't it?_

Well, that's what she assumes.

"I meant...right, look at these photos, yeah...?" she says, breaking eye contact and gesturing to the photo albums. "In all these photos of us two, even the ones which you say I look 'differently' at you in; what does it look like to you?"

"Erm..." he replies, not really sure what she's getting at.

"Look at them," she commands.

He is. He still doesn't understand.

"_Really_ look at them," she insists, her tone exasperating a little.

He _really _is. And he _really _doesn't get it.

"Look, if some random stranger saw all these photos, what would they automatically assume, eh?" she tries to explain.

"Well, firstly, I think that they'd think they'd gone crazy, 'cos where on Earth are there things like that standing around to have your photo taken next to?" he quips, pointing out various alien monuments and artefacts. "Secondly, I think that they'd go for the more rational explanation than 'Woah, they must travel in time and space,' and think that maybe we just photo-shopped some really odd images together..." he finishes, chuckling lightly. He stops laughing when Rose just stares back at him blankly.

"You don't get it," she says with a sigh.

He shakes his head, and pulls his glasses off, rubbing the bridge of his nose wearily. "Nope. Sorry. Not a clue."

"Don't think about all the alien side of it. Just look at _us._ What would we look like to someone other than us?"

"Oh! You mean, I look _human!" _he cries excitedly, finally feeling as though he's getting somewhere.

"No." _Why is he being so __**thick! **_she asks herself.

"Oh," he replies, deflated.

"Well. You're sort of right, I suppose. But what else? What else would strike someone as soon as they saw, say, _this _picture?" she says, flicking back through them and pointing at the one of them on Oss. The one she hadn't shown him before. The one in which she started looking at him like she...

And just like that, it dawns on him. _Ohhhh. That's what she's getting at, is it? Oh dear. How do I answer __**this**__...?_

"Erm...huh..." he says, rather ineloquently. He tugs at his ear nervously. "I suppose, they'd see two...people...weeelll, friends...weeelll, I suppose...we do look quite, erm, _cosy_..." She raises an eyebrow. But she's secretly delighted that he's finally acknowledging it. And stumbling over his words so adorably. "I mean we're sort of...cuddling, really, and looking at each other and...so, people would think, erm...assume...that we were, weeelll, possibly, maybe, _more _than friends..." he stutters, looking away from her now blushing face and concentrating his gaze on her bedroom door. Rose notices this and briefly thinks he may be about to make a run for it. But then he does something which takes her by surprise. He wraps his arm around her shoulders and drops back onto his back, pulling down with him. From their awkward position on the small bed, Rose is forced to curl into the Doctor's side, and he holds her tightly against him, his eyes still fixed on the door rather than the woman in his arms. The woman he loves. _Likes!_

Loves?

_Likes._

Loves...

**A/N: Hellooo :D Please, please review! They are much appreciated and loved. Loved with, like, an IMPOSSIBLE amount of love. Like, more than I love tea and biscuits. Which is saying something, believe me. I am a tea/biscuit-aholic.**

**Oooh. Maybe that means I'm a review-aholic too...? Which is a good thing. Brilliant, even. Reviews are good for the soul. So, keep 'em coming, I beg of you ;P**

**Laura xxx**


	4. Who's Assumptions Are Wrong, Exactly?

**Chapter 4 – Who's Assumptions Are Wrong, Exactly?**

The woman he loves. _Likes. _Loves. _Likes. _Loves......

_Oh. Oh dear. No. No use in denying it anymore. The photos prove it: she is in love with me. And I've fallen for her equally as hard and as deeply. No. More so. Rassilon. What the hell am I going to do now? It's too late to stop it. I physically cannot __**not **__love her. And although I should send her away, because I can never give her the life she'll want and deserve, I can't let her go, I can't send her back. It's too late. She's here with me, where she's going to stay as long as she wants. Her forever. And these photos...these photos would show anyone and everyone just how I feel about her. Apart from her. Because I don't think __**she **__gets it this time. I don't think she gets that I love her too._

Rose rests a hand on his chest, in between his two hearts, and she can feel how rapid the beats are coming. It's almost like he – no. _No, he can't...he doesn't want that...we're just friends. Just...friends. Sure, I happen to be in love with him, but that doesn't change the fact that we're just friends. Yeah, the Doctor said that we looked like more than that, but that doesn't change the fact that 'just friends' is all we actually are. All we ever could be. Which is exactly my point. To an outsider, we'd look like a couple. In fact, on many, if not the majority, of situations, people who don't know us __**assume **__that we're together. God, even people who __**do **__know us believe that we're together, despite us assuring them we're not..._

_Oh. Hang on. We don't, do we? I can't remember a single time since he regenerated when we've corrected someone who thought we were a couple...He just...let them believe it. More often than not, __**I**__ don't say anything purely because I think, maybe he's letting them think we're together or married or whatever for the sake of the current situation – maybe we're undercover, or have to follow certain laws or some such. _

Or maybe he just forgets that they're _not_ together, so he doesn't remember to correct peoples' mistakes.

The Doctor rests his chin on the top of her head, finally moving his eyes from her door. He's concentrating on that nice bit of wall by her wardrobe, now. He's never noticed that bit of wall before. Nothing special about it, of course. It's as pink and as plain as the rest of the wall. But still. It's nice to notice new things.

He counts to ten in a thousand different languages, but that doesn't stop his thoughts from wandering again.

_Maybe I just like to pretend that we __**are **__together__**. **__So that other people know that she's not available. Which is selfish. But I don't care. She's mine. She belongs with me. No one else. No one._

_Rassilon. I was never this possessive before. Weeelll, I suppose this is all new, really. Feeling like this, about her. Feeling like this, full stop..._

_I've never felt so human. And the strangest thing of all is that I really don't mind. All this domestic stuff like Christmas dinner and romantic walks and visiting her mum and shopping and eating toast on the sofa and watching The Muppet Movie...it's domestic. Very domestic. And it doesn't worry me in the slightest. Which, ironically, is what worries me. Not the fact that I'm acting like this is all perfectly normal, Time Lord-y behaviour, when it isn't, but the fact that I enjoy that stuff, and don't care that it's going against all my rules. I enjoy being with her. Making her smile. Making her laugh. And, __**Rassilon, **__I think I might be completely in over my head here. This is far scarier than anything I've ever faced before. The first time in weeks that I've been silent for longer than thirty seconds; the first time in centuries that I've felt this way about someone. _

_Except this...I never remember it quite like this before. Rose is just...well. She's not perfect. But she's pretty damn close. She's brilliant. _

_I only take the best._

"Doctor?" Rose says quietly, breaking the Doctor's internal musings.

"Hmmm?" he murmurs.

"All those photos. A thousand smiles, a thousand hugs," she states firmly.

"Yeah," he sighs. "A thousand missed opportunities," he continues before he can stop himself.

"What?" she asks, sitting up, moving out of his embrace.

He gulps. "Erm...weeelll, a thousand times I could have..." he trails off.

"What, Doctor?" she asks slowly, staring down into his eyes.

"Weeelll..." he whispers, reaching up to caress her cheek lightly. Rose's breath hitches at his touch. "A thousand times I could have done this." And impulsively, he demonstrates what he means by bringing his head up and pulling her head down at the same time so that their lips meet in the most tender, feather-light of touches. Rose gasps against his mouth in surprise, and he pulls his mouth away by an inch, his own eyes as wide as hers, as if shocked at himself. "Sorry," he whispers, his words ghosting over her lips. "Couldn't resist. Anymore." He smiles sheepishly.

Rose bites her lip thoughtfully, and his eyes flicker from hers to watch. She notices this. She's entirely confused. _Had that just happened? Did he just...? Did we just...? _

_Did we just __**snog?**_

"Not really. Didn't get that far. It was just a peck. A _snog _would constitute a parting of lips and an exploration of each other's mouths via our tongues. I think. Actually, I'm not very experienced with that sort of thing, so, you tell me," answers the Doctor, and Rose cringes inwardly as she realises she must have said that last bit aloud. He grins at her blushing cheeks, his face still close to hers.

"Well..." she croaks out, her mouth suddenly dry. "Erm...no. You're right. That wasn't... snogging." _But it still felt amazing. It felt like I was on fire. Electricity running through my body. Woah. Is he gonna do that again? Ever? I hope so. Wow. I want to._

"You okay?" he asks tentatively, noticing Rose's dazed expression. He also notices just how close they are to one another's bodies. Without either of them realising, his arm had wrapped around her waist, a hand lazily stroking her lower back, and one of her legs had slid in between his.

_Right. That's...interesting. Kind of nice. Very nice. Does she think so? Does she even realise where her leg's positioned right now?_

"Huh? Oh. Erm...yeah. Yeah, I'm...that's just...that's a bit different," she stutters.

"Yeah," he says, exhaling a breath he hadn't known he had been holding.

"I...I liked it though," she says reassuringly.

"Yeah?" She nods. "Me too," he replies. _So much, _he thinks.

She glances down and notices where her leg is for the first time. She blushes again, and considers pulling away. _But he hasn't pulled away, _a voice inside her head tells her. _If he didn't like it, he'd have pulled away. Does he want this to happen, us be this close? Did he want this all along? Does he want this as much as me? Oh god, I hope so. _

"So...missed opportunities? You said, a thousand missed opportunities. So...erm, all those times...did you..." she trails off, embarrassed in case she was making some very wrong assumptions.

"Did I want to kiss you all those times too?" he vocalises her thoughts.

She bites her lip again. "Yeah," she whispers almost inaudibly.

"Honestly?"

"Yes," she says quickly, willing him to just give her an answer.

"Of course I did. Did you never realise?" he replies, chuckling quietly. He brings a hand up to sweep a strand of her hair from her eyes, tucking it behind her ear.

_Wow. Am I dreaming? I must be dreaming. What took him so long?_

"No, I never...I never realised. I thought...well, after everything you said, when I met Sarah-Jane, I thought that you would never...you know, when you made the whole you, Time Lord, practically immortal, me, human, withers and dies, thing as clear as day. I didn't really think, that you could ever let yourself feel...you know...But then...erm, with Reinette, well, I knew then that you _could _feel...that way...so I thought nothing would ever happen between us, because, we just weren't like that." _You don't love me._

He gazes into her eyes imploringly and swallows thickly, a feeling of guilt rising up within him. _How could I have been so stupid? Assuming she could tell. Assuming she already knew. Rassilon! She really didn't realise..._

"Reinette wasn't...that was just...nothing. It really, honestly, was nothing. I didn't..."he trails off_. _

_I didn't love her._ _She was a stranger and I thought I could pretend for a while. Pretend that I wasn't in love with you; use her as a distraction. It was selfish. Terribly selfish. Slush instead of snow; Reinette instead of Rose. No, wait, stupid analogy. And a bit mean. Anyway, I'm selfish and very stupid, basically. And when she died, I felt terribly __**guilty,**__ because all that time she'd been waiting, waiting for a man, weeelll, a coward, that was never completely hers in the first place. I was so selfish. And I had left you, which I couldn't bear, and oh, I just wanted to pretend and ignore my real feelings because I'm so __**scared **__Rose, so scared of really losing you, and I love you, and you have to know that, you must've known, ever since...oh, when was it? I don't even know. So long ago. Satellite five. That kiss... No. Before that. That __**first **__time you met a Dalek. When I almost lost you. No, 10 Downing Street, perhaps. Having to face losing you again. You or the World. You or the universe. It's always going to be you... And that's quite scary. Maybe I loved you for trying to save your Dad. You're so human. And you was so sorry for all that, but not, because he was your __**dad**__, and of course you'd want to save him, and I know that if I could, if it were possible, I'd save my dad too, and everyone else. That made me love you. Oh, wait. No, no, no. It was before all that, too. Maybe since Christmas in Cardiff? Maybe since 'run...' Oh, I don't know, and I don't care, but it's there, Rose, I feel it; __**Rassilon **__do I feel it. You, __**you, Rose Tyler, **__are everything, and I'm too scared to tell you that because you'll leave, one day, and then what will I have? Slush. Not-snow. That's all. Memories, and photos and not-Rose..._he doesn't say.

"I thought you knew how I felt...how I _feel..._about you," he whispers instead, wishing he had the courage to tell her all those thoughts he was thinking. Loving Rose is inevitable; this moment unavoidable. But he'd tried to deter it, for both their sakes. Tried to push her away; but he couldn't because he actually kept bringing her impossibly close at the same time. The pretending didn't work. For once in his life, he couldn't keep up the charade any longer. Everyone, _everyone, _saw right through it. Well. Except for Rose.

Her expression is soft but a frown flitters across her face in confusion. "No, I didn't and I still don't...how _do _you feel about me? 'Cos that's my whole point; those photos, they show a completely different side to the story. They show two people who are clearly in love with each other. Which is wrong."

He's looks at her intently. "Is it?"

**A/N: Hiya :D Oh, am I evil for leaving it like that? Probably. Sorry. If only there was a way that I can be forced to update super-super-quickly...ooh, I know! Maybe you could drop me a lovely little review? Please? And then...an update will appear! Wahay! Well, if you liked this, of course. If you didn't then I am truly sorry. And please let me know anyway, so that I can try to get better. And thus an update shall appear anyway! Wahay! *shudders at complete cheesy lunacy of this author's note for which I am deeply apologetic* **

**But please REVIEW! They make me happy :D**

**Laura xxx**


	5. All Those Times I Could Have Said

**Chapter 5 – All Those Times I Could Have Said**

Her expression is soft but a frown flitters across her face in confusion. "No, I didn't and I still don't...how _do _you feel about me? 'Cos that's my whole point; those photos, they show a completely different side to the story. They show two people who are clearly in love with each other. Which is wrong."

He's looks at her intently. "Is it?"

"Yeah," she pauses, confused at his question, and by the look in his eyes. "Isn't it?"

He chuckles quietly. _She really doesn't get it, does she? She still can't see it. Blimey. Everyone else does. She must be blind._

He leans closer to her. "A thousand hugs, a thousand smiles, you said. And like _I _said, a thousand missed opportunities. A thousand times I could have kissed you, but most of all, a thousand times I could have told you that...weeelll...that I love you," he whispers, and then he presses his lips to hers once more, before she can reply.

Her eyes widen and her mouth opens in shock and the Doctor does not miss _this _opportunity. He slips his tongue inside her mouth. After a moment of complete paralysis on her part, Rose begins to respond, and all of a sudden this kiss is nothing like the first. It's not so tender and it's certainly not feather-light. It's passionate and lustful and completely, brilliantly mind-blowing. She removes her leg from between his and he grabs her under the knee to bring it up to his hip. Their tongues dance together as she rolls him onto his back, her knees either side of his hips. She winds her arms around his neck, her hands going into his hair, dishevelling it even more than it already is, pressing her body into him as she leans down. His hands slip down her back, one sliding beneath the hem of her top, the other resting underneath her right thigh, and she shivers.

_Oh my god is this really happening? it can't be I must be dreaming but oh god I've never had a dream that feels this real before...it's so brilliant...I love this I want this to go on forever oh my __**god**__ I love him...he's kissing me the Doctor's kissing me he's really kissing me we're kissing. We. Are. Kissing. This is real...is this real? It feels so right...it's lovely oh god it's so lovely....oh wait a sec...something's odd...I forgot...wait, what did he just say...just now did he say...? He can't have meant that...did he...?_

"Wh - what was that?" she asks breathlessly, pulling away for air, but not removing herself from lying on top of him.

"_That_, Rose Tyler, was what I believe to be the snog of your life!" he pronounces joyfully, rolling her over so that he's on top, his hand on her hip dragging her closer to his body. "It certainly was mine!" he adds, before leaning down and pressing his lips back to hers. She unconsciously opens her legs and wraps them around his waist and she swears she hears the Doctor groan softly into her mouth, but that could just be her imagination. She's still partially convinced she's dreaming all of this.

"No, I meant..._oh..." _she begins unsuccessfully, as he presses kisses at her ear, down her jaw line, to her neck. She takes a few deep breaths, and swallows nervously. "I meant: what was that you said? Before you tried to – _oh god - _distract me with 'the snog of my life?'" she finally manages to say, smiling widely despite her apprehension.

He ignores her question, instead preferring to keep kissing his way across her collar bone. He briefly thinks he shouldn't be doing this. It's against the rules, and they are just friends and friends don't do this and they're just friends...

_Except we aren't, are we? No. We're so much more than that. Anyone and everyone can see it. Which is why I had to tell her and why I am positively, practically being __**compelled**__ to do this by the nature of fate and the forces of the universe and she's probably supposed to be doing this 'cos it's in her horoscope or something etc etc...yeah all the stuff I don't usually believe in...but this has to be what's meant to happen because it feels so damn good and I can't __**not**__ kiss her anymore and I can't __**not**__ touch her anymore and I can't __**not**__ make love to her...I can't and I won't __**not **__break the rules..._

"Doctor?" she persists, though it comes out sounding more like a moan when he trails kisses back up to her ear and bites it softly. She reaches out for his hand that's pressing into the mattress by her hip, intertwining their fingers. He pauses his movements and looks down at their joined hands as if he's never seen them before.

"Rose..." he begins, and he's astounded to hear himself sound so hoarse with desire. He clears his throat meaningfully and tries again. "Rose. You heard what I said. All those times, shown in all those photos - " he pauses, looking over his shoulder briefly, and smiles mischievously back at her. " – which are now all over the floor, by the way. Anyway, I've never told you, because it's too hard, because one day you'll leave...but you know what? I'm tired of resisting. You're just _impossible_ to resist anymore," he tells her, his eyes twinkling, his fingers of his free hand tracing over her lips softly.

"Really?" she asks, but she doesn't sound like she needs convincing, really, because she's already starting to pull off his tie.

"Really," he confirms, unbuttoning his shirt absently.

"No..." she stops his hands, "Let me do that," she grins mischievously. Then she stops. "Everyone could tell, couldn't they? All the time. But I never realised..." she murmurs.

"I know. Silly Rose. _Blind _Rose!" he exclaims, and Rose scowls at him playfully. She looks over his shoulder for a moment, then spots them, reaching behind him to grab them before he can comprehend her sudden movements.

"Maybe I need these, then?" she asks, her tongue poking between her teeth as she smiles cheekily, putting on his sexy glasses.

His eyes widen. "Wow. They, erm..." he clears his throat, "They really suit you."

"Yeah? I didn't think they'd look so good on me," she giggles.

"Good? You look better than good. I'd go as far as saying you looking rather sexy!" he exclaims with a wistful sigh.

"Awww, really? That's so sweet of you to say. Do they make me look clever, too?"

"Oh yes."

"Do you want to know a secret?" she asks him playfully.

"What's that?" he asks, his face falling a little when she takes the glasses off and puts them on him instead.

"When you wear these..." she taps the side of the glasses delicately, leaning up to him, "I have the almost uncontrollable urge to do this..."

When they finally pull apart from that particularly nice kiss, the Doctor resolves to wear his glasses more often.

"Never knew you had a thing for the glasses," he comments, peering down at her.

"Course I do," she says, shrugging a though it's obvious. "Just you, though. Not on anyone else."

"Good. Anything else I sometimes wear or do that turns you on?" he asks, affecting a serious tone of voice to hide his amusement at the entire situation. Rose blushes, and he chuckles quietly, because she keeps doing that, and it's rather lovely, but bemusing, too. Because after all this kissing and touching and almost-undressing they've been doing on her bed all this time, you wouldn't think she'd blush at him saying that. "You know. For future reference," he murmurs, tickling her ribs affectionately.

"We gonna be doing this a lot then?"she smirks.

"I assume so. If you want. What _do_ you want?" he asks, suddenly very aware that she hasn't really told him.

"You," she says simply.

He grins. "Oh. Well then, that settles it." He nods his head purposefully. "No more missing opportunities. Lots more snogging in the future."

"Just snogging? Or...other stuff?" she says before she can stop herself. _Damn it. I've got to try harder and keeping certain things to my –_

"Oh, other stuff too," he smiles. Rather smoulderingly, Rose feels.

_-self. Wait. What? Oh good. He does want to actually __**finish **__the undressing thing..._

"Really?" she asks, and there's no way he could miss her hopeful, eager tone of voice.

"Of course. Like, running and eating and shopping and defeating aliens and visiting historical figures and sleeping and playing scrabble - "he teases, and her face visibly falls, although she knows he's just winding her up. After all, she has unbuttoned his shirt completely now, and is pushing it off of his shoulders as he speaks. " – and scuba diving and hopping and eating bananas and taking photos and watching t.v and causing trouble and mind-shattering sex..."

Rose grins, and flips him over, straddling him as she removed her t-shirt. He watches her complete and utter fascination, and wonders why he never considered doing this before.

(Well, alright. He had considered it. He did consider it. A lot. More than a lot, actually. But he assumed it would never happen, so he'd tried to ignore his...considerations. Which was hard. Very, very hard.)

But he wasn't going to ignore it anymore.

_It's physically, biologically and possibly chemically impossible for me to ignore it now. Rassilon, she's beautiful, and she's mine and I love her. I love her. I love her. It feels so good to finally be able to accept that now. I love her. I love her. I __**love**__ her._

"I love you," he says randomly, when she reaches to undo his trousers (though that's not the reason he says it, of course. He hadn't meant to say it, actually. He'd been thinking it. A lot. But he hadn't been about to tell her. She knew, anyway.)

She stops, looks up, beams at him, and whispers, "I know that, now."

Then, she moves up and kisses him ferociously, all her passion and love and devotion poured into it.

And thus their future begins with the most important thing on his list. Well, assuming he saved the best 'til last, anyway...

...And when both their breathing is laboured and their heart rates' are impossibly fast, and they are both on the brink of something that _must_ be pure ecstasy, she's sure of it...

...Rose tells the Doctor she loves him too.

.................................................................................................................................

**A/N: Hope you enjoyed it! Weird to think all that rambling fluff came out of my mind from the word 'slush.' Don't know what that says about me. Anyways, thanks MentalMeander! **

**So everyone, please review to let me know what you think! And, if you like, you could throw some random word prompt my way and I'll attempt to create a story around it :D **

**Thanks,**

**Laura xxx**


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